Moments of the day leading up to the best Christmas present Cady has ever received. Enjoy! Sorry it only came today but I'm in Denmark so it was all a little complicated. Shoutout to maybeimamuppet for getting me through this. without her encouraging me this wouldn't be here xD. Anyways I hope this doesn't suck. Have fun.
The person tho came up with the concept of Christmas being the most wonderful and relaxing time of the year was definitely lying to themselves. Cady hated Christmas time. Yes it's leading up to beautiful three days with family, friends and presents, but even that was really taking it's time this year.
It was the 24th of December when Cady finally got to buy the last Christmas present she needed but of course it didn't go quite as well as Cady had planned.
At first she overslept, then her car wouldn't turn on, she missed her bus, the next wouldn't let her in without a mask which she obviously forgot and the mall was packed with people who still didn't care that they were in the middle of a pandemic.
She was cautious but mostly anxious as she was walking through the isles, walking past people coughing and arguing with security people without a mask on. She'd have to get tested on her way to Janis house.
Janis. Her friend was the reason she was here. She still needed a present.
The art store she was in was packed. She never liked crowded places but during the pandemic her anxiety just got worse and to top it all of she had no idea what she was doing.
After a long time of walking through the same aisles over and over again, on the last shelf in the very back of the store, she finally spotted something she could work with. Her excitement grew as she stood on her tip toes, desperate to get it -
until someone else grabbed it and walked away.
FUCK. THIS. SHIT!!!!
Janis favourite coffee has to do it for now.
------
Cady let out a relieved sigh as Janis driveway finally came into view. After the way too long trip to the art store and complications on the way, she couldn't wait to finally meet her sanctuary. She smiled at the thought of being wrapped into fuzzy blankets with a hot chocolate in her hand, while Janis is holding her, gently combing through her hair like she always does. She absolutely loved it. Not only because Janis gave the best hugs, but also because she wished for nothing more this year than to be able to call Janis her girlfriend. She had been crushing on her best friend for a while now - longer than she liked to admit - but never had the courage to tell her. Scared of rejection and to make things awkward.
Lost in her thoughts, Cady completely forgot that she was still walking on slippery ground until her foot slipped on a layer of ice, and she fell right onto her back. Hard.
"FUCK!" She screamed, the coffee was spilled all around her, slightly melting the layer of snow underneath, coloring it in a brown shade. Cady was surprised that no neighbor was already out and complaining. Instead she heard the patting of bare feet on the ice along little curses being muttered under someones breath.
It was Janis, still in her pajamas, running over to her barefoot just to scoop her up and hastily carry her back into her house.
"Janis, what the fuck?" Cady gasped looking down at Janis' now very red feet.
"Don't Janis me. It's freezing cold, you fell and the last thing I want is Chad from next door to throw a tantrum because you bothered him while he was playing COD."
Cady felt her feet gently touch the ground again, Janis hands still resting on her hips to keep her steady.
"Hi" Janis grinned as she finally looked up at her, her eyes glistening in the sun light.
"Hey..." Cady finally said with a big sigh, gently leaning into Janis. "I'm sorry... I spilled your coffee..."
"It's fine Peanut." Janis chuckled, as she wrapped her arms around Cady's waist.
"But it was your favourite... Irish cold brew."
"Wrong. You're my favourite." Janis said giving Cady a little squeeze, making Cadys tensed muscles relax the tiniest bit.
They stayed like this for a while until Cady remembered something.
"Janis?"
"Mh?"
"Can I take off my Jacket now?" Cady chuckled and Janis begrudgingly pulled away.
"Yeah, right. Imma make some hot chocolate." she smiled, making her way to the kitchen.
"With extra marshmallows?"
"As always."
------
After the coat has been taken off and the hot chocolate has been made, Cady found herself on the couch, a big mug of the delicious drink in both her hands, wrapped into fuzzy blankets for extra warmth.
She relaxed a little. This was truly the worst day for her. But the warm drink, the quiet Christmas music in the background and most of all Janis presence made it a whole lot more bearable than it was just minutes ago.
"So. What movies do you wanna watch?" She asked, slowly entering the room with her own almost overflowing mug of hot chocolate.
"No horror!" Cady said sternly already sensing Janis idea of a peaceful movie night.
Janis frowned. "But why?"
"It's Christmas. I don't wanna see dumb white people being gutted by a psychopath because of their bad life decisions."
She was referring to their last movie night together. They were watching the saw movies which were utterly disgusting. A great opportunity to cuddle more into her best friend.
"Excuse me?" Janis scoffed. "Saw is about a whole lot more than that!"
"Oh and what exactly?"
Janis paused, glaring at her. Her fingernail was clinking against the ceramic mug in a steady rhythm. "That doesn't matter. The gutting is still the best part."
"Christmas Vacation. The good one."
"Obviously." Janis grumbled as she turned out Netflix on her tv, already stretching her arm out so Cady can cuddle into her side which she gladly did.
And for one moment as the intoxicating smell of peppermint tea and freshly opened paint surrounded her, all the stress of the day just faded away.
------
"Caddie?" Cady got woken up by Janis gentle voice calling her name.
Cady groaned, burying her face into the crook of the taller woman's neck, not ready to wake up from her nap yet. She clung tighter onto Janis mumuring a little 'No'
"Caddie I think you won't like this."
"Then tell me later. Because I like this right now."
There was a moment of silence as they kept laying on the couch. Janis hand was tangled in Cadys hair, gently scratching her scalp, her other arm tightly wrapped around her waist. She placed a kiss on Cady's forehead and suddenly a welcoming feeling of warmth radiated through her making her smile just the tiniest bit. She hoped dearly that Janis couldn't see her blushing.
"No seriously Caddie, it's kinda important." Janis said a little louder now.
The warm feeling vanished all at once and she looked up.
"Holy fuck-"
As Cady slowly came back to her senses she registered the snowstorm raging outside. The soft wintry feathers fluttering down the sky evolved into a heavy blizzard, as if a sky-dam had burst. The ground was covered in thick layers of snow, cars were fully covered and icicles were hangin off the roofs.
Her gaze shifted to Janis again who just nervously smiled from underneath her.
"Surpriiiise" she said. Her voice unusually high pitched. "We're completely snowed in."
"You're kidding me right?" Cady said scrambling off her to get a better look.
"I mean at least we still have power."
------
Cady was tense when they sat down to have dinner. She couldn't deny that she liked spending time with Janis on Christmas Eve but everything that happened today and the snowstorm made her feel uneasy. She was silently poking her chicken strips with a fork, not really hungry until Janis spoke up.
"...Everything okay?"
"Yeah..." she murmured, not looking up from her plate.
Janis rolled her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Just a bit stressful today-"
And that was when the power went out.
"You're fucking kidding me."
"What?" Janis was stunned at Cady's furious tone.
"You cannot tell me that this is happening right now. After everything that happened today you cannot tell me that god hates me so much to do this to me too!"
"Caddie breathe-" Janis walked around the table placing her hands on Cady's shoulders for comfort, but Cady continued.
"Janis Sarkisian do not tell me to fucking breathe! I've been through hell and back today from not being able to drive to republican assholes who refuse to wear your masks! And ON TOP OF THAT I'm stuck here with you-"
There was a deafening silence between them. Janis retrieved her hands from Cady's shoulders and took a step back. Cady didn't see anything but the little scoff she let out and the muttered 'wow' was enough to know that Cady crossed a line.
"Jan-" she tried to reach for her but Janis stepped back.
"I'm gonna look for some candles or something." And with that she vanished further into the darkness surrounding them, leaving Cady alone and scared in the cold and pitch black living room.
------
Cady jumped when she suddenly felt a presence beside her.
"Shit Janis."
"Sorry" she she whispered, placing a candle onto the coffee table. There was clicking of a lighter a couple of times until a little flame erupted to light the candle.
After all candles have been placed, Janis slowly sat down on the couch with a fair amount of distance between them. Cady didn't like it. Wasn't used to it. Janis normally pulled her into a hug, wrapping a blanket around them to keep her warm. But now it felt like the deepest and coldest winter came too early.
Janis didn't look at her, her gaze focused on the little flame in front of them. The light glistened in Janis chocolate brown eyes. God she was beautiful. Even in the dim light of the candles she made Cadys heart flutter as soon as she looked at her.
"Janis?" Cady murmured carefully.
"Hm?"
She paused. For a second. The little hum sounded hurt. Not angry but rather disappointed. "I'm sorry... I really didn't mean it"
"But you said it..." Janis said, looking up at Cady with a shrug. "I get it tho... I'm not the best person to spend Christmas Eve with."
"That's not true and you know it."
"Yeah no I'm pretty great."
They laughed but Janis still stayed in her place, giving Cady no sign to come closer either.
"That you are." Cady said sincerely "I'm really sorry. I love spending time with you and you've truly been the best part of today... Hell, you're the reason I even got out of bed today. I shouldn't have said it... that was dumb... and I shouldn't have yelled at you."
Suddenly Cady felt a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. She leaned into Janis with a smile, savoring this moment.
"You're forgiven. But only because you're cute."
"That's okay..." Cady chuckled. "Still love me?"
"Always."
------
After a while Cady and Janis grew quite bored. Cards against humanity turned out to be a game you don't play with only two people, playing 'questions' got cut short because they knew almost everything about each other already, and solving puzzles was too easy with an artist and a math student around.
So they both decided to grab the nearest books and start a readathon, reading out the best scenes to each other. It was 1 am and just the occasional turn of pages was erupting the now comfortable silence between them. They were sitting on the couch both on opposite ends facing each other with their legs stretched out, their feet barely touching. Cadys head was resting on the backrest while she was - now regretfully - reading 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo'. Janis on the other hand was reading her old, almost entirely destroyed copy of 'The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh'.
Cady was the first one to speak up. Her eyes were filled with tears and her voice was shaking a little like she was about to break down because of the current scene.
"I have one." she whimpered, trying to get herself together again.
Janis looked horrified, like she was going through every worst case scenario that could happen.
"You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until someone stands behind you and says, 'It's OK, you can fall down now. I'll catch you'." Cady read out, her tears now running freely.
Janis sat up, pulling Cady into a tight hug. They deserved a break. At least Cady did for torturing herself with this tragedy.
But after a short time her tears dried and Cady just simply enjoyed being in Janis embrace.
"You're that person to me." she whispered after a while
"Huh?"
"You're the person standing behind me, catching me when I fall. You are the one person I trust wholeheartedly. When I'm too exhausted to keep going I know you're there for me. When I feel like breaking down I know you'll put your arms around me, only letting me go when you're absolutely sure that I'm okay... all of that even though I hurt you countless of times by now-"
"Don't." Janis whispered tightening her grip around her. "Don't go there... I'll always catch you. Plus it's Christmas. Not the time to talk about bad memories."
They both chuckled and it kind of felt like a weigh got lifted off of Cady. "Merry Christmas Jan."
"Merry Christmas Caddie... Now do you wanna hear a happy quote?"
"Yes please." Cady smiled, drying the last remaining tears.
"A. A. Milne literally wrote about us." Janis grinned looking back down onto the page.
"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
There was a pause.
"Did you just call me short?" Cady smirked, making Janis laugh.
"I did indeed." Janis grinned placing her book on the coffee table to hug her again. "But that wasn't really what I was trying to say..."
"What is it then?" Cady had an idea what it was... but it couldn't be. But the little 'oh boy' Janis let out told her otherwise.
"I kind of fell in love with you..."
Silence. Cady was truly too stunned to speak. But scared that Janis would take the silence the wrong way she spoke up.
"I really wish you wouldn't have said that" Janis shoulders tensed, her grip loosening now.
Cady placed her chin on Janis chest, smirking up at her. Janis eyes met hers, a little uncertain what was happening. "That was my plan. I wanted to say it."
Janis let out a big relieved sigh. 'Thank god.'
"Well... then tell me."
"I fell head over heels in love with you Janis Sarkisian. Even with your weird double jointed hands."
Suddenly, Janis had the absolute dirtiest smirk on her face. "Those can be quite handy ya know?"
"Behave!" Cady buried her face into Janis chest to hide her blush. "You're an idiot."
"And you love me anyways."
"I do indeed."
------
Cady woke up by the smell of freshly brewed coffee, on a now way too cold couch. She looked around. She was wrapped in a blanket, the smell of Janis scent still lingering on the soft fabric. The candles were blown out and put away, the orange light of the sunrise was peaking through the curtains and it was significantly warmer than it was just a couple of hours ago. Birds were singing outside Janis window and Cady could hear the faint purring of Janis' cat in the arm chair.
It would've been the perfect moment. Almost like a scene from your favorite romance book. The only thing missing was Janis.
"Hey." Speak of the devil.
"Slept okay?" Janis asked softly, sitting down beside Cady.
"You're a good pillow so yes."
They both chuckled but then a long moment of silence fell over them.
"About last night..."
"Yes?" Cady panicked for some reason. Did she read this whole conversation wrong?
"I just wanted to ask if you wanna go on a date? Maybe on Monday?"
Oh. No miscommunication then. "I'd like that... very much."
They both smiled but as Janis slowly leaned in to finally kiss Cady, a phone rang.
"Sorry." Cady murmured checking her screen. "That's my mom she'll be here in like five minutes so I'm sorry but this has to wait for a bit."
'Alright' Janis whispered as they both stand up, walking towards the door.
When Cady was ready to leave the house no car was in sight so as they were standing on the front porch Janis took her opportunity.
"Cady?"
"Huh?"
Janis pointed upwards with a grin. She placed a mistletoe there this morning as she was throwing the candles into the trash.
"I don't know about you but I think tradition is tradition."
"Since when do you believe in traditions exactly?" Cady asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Since they work in my favor."
Cady giggled as she pushed herself up on her tip toes to gently press her lips onto Janis'. She gently cupped her cheeks in her hands while Janis arms found their place around her waist. And for a second time Cady felt like she was at peace. Like nothing could harm her. Pure happiness radiated through her body even after they pulled away, their foreheads now pressed against each other.
She was smiling from ear to ear which made Janis smile even more.
"What?" She asked with a chuckle, pulling away the tiniest bit.
"Nothing." Cady said, looking up at her with a grin. "I was just thinking how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Janis then pulled her into a tight hug and if Cady wouldn't know better she would've thought that she tried to hide a blush.
"I love you, Peanut." Janis murmured into her neck. And those words made Cadys insides do backflips. To her it felt like a Christmas miracle. The thing she wished for, for the last years finally came true.
"I love you too, Jan."
They kept hugging until Janis grew tense."Uhm, I love you a lot... but your mom is currently kind of cheering for us inside her car and it makes me feel very uneasy."
They laughed and Cady reluctantly let go of her, saying their last goodbyes as Cady turned around, running back to her mothers car.
This is it. Merry Christmas everyone and I have a NYE one on the way so let's see if I get to publish it on time.
As always I hope you like it, I hope you have an amazing day and until next time, bye.♥️